Inter, Romelu Lukaku returns to London: Chelsea call him, summit after Istanbul

Romelu’s assist is not enough. It’s still not enough. This is why Lukaku’s future is far from Milan today. Where he would like to stay, where he chose to return a summer ago after realizing he made the wrong choice. But not everything depends on him. Chelsea and Inter must talk to each other. Zhang’s club is in a hurry to do it. He wants to understand, also to build an alternative strategy if necessary. And, of course, some leads have already been beaten, as we write in the piece opposite. But the solution will be a talk between the two clubs which will take place immediately after the final in Istanbul on 10 June.

Lukaku will return to London because this says the logic of a 12-month loan. And today those words exchanged between Inter and Chelsea a year ago are worth nothing, that is the promise to talk to each other for a possible second year. Then there’s the rest. What will happen from July 1 onwards? The Belgian has already made it clear that he no longer wants to play in the Premier League: Serie A is the championship that he considers ideal for his characteristics, Milan is also the city where he wants to pitch his tents. But there is a variable called Pochettino, the future Chelsea manager. And the Argentine coach let the management of the London club know that he wants to closely evaluate the opportunity to have a player like Romelu in the squad. This cannot fail to have a weight in the economy of a discourse linked to the player’s future. Romelu doesn’t seem to change his mind. He’s not distracted, his mind is at Inter, far beyond the final in Istanbul that he predicted to everyone at the start of the season, from Zhang down. But the ideas of a Chelsea different from the one he left 12 months ago must be taken into consideration. Because the Blues are holders of a heavy price tag, which in the balance sheet of the London club two years after the purchase still weighs just under 70 million euros, 69 to be exact.

It’s a number that is a kind of cage, for the player and for Chelsea themselves. Because a definitive sale is unthinkable, despite the fact that Lukaku’s performance in the last two months is decidedly better than that of the previous year and a half. Lukaku himself knows that in fact the only way to leave London again is to find a club that takes on an expensive loan deal, in some ways beyond the logic for any club attentive to budgets and the capitalization of players in rose. Inter’s point of view is very clear. For Lukaku to have a chance of staying at the Nerazzurri next season, a number of conditions must be met at the same time. The first is almost reality, or rather the qualification for the next Champions League, which could already be mathematics tonight. The second condition is linked to the possibility that Lukaku will reduce a salary which, net of the Growth Decree, weighs on Inter’s coffers for just over 11 million gross euros. And here the player showed an openness, obviously appreciated by Inter. It is the third condition that is missing. And that to date pushes Lukaku away from Inter. Because Marotta and Ausilio would like a significant discount compared to the eight million (bonuses excluded) paid for this season. But here the Blues don’t seem to allow openings. They would like, at best, to repeat the same agreement of 12 months ago, assuming that Pochettino fails to change the Belgian’s mind. From the series: the package does not change. All the more reason now that Lukaku has (re) begun to demonstrate his value, resulting decisive in the Nerazzurri climb up to Istanbul.

The stalemate can only be exited with a vertex between the parties. Summit that will be staged after the final, in fact. With bowls still, Inter want to understand. The debate is open in Appiano. It is evident that the Belgian’s positive performances have reopened a door that seemed closed. But the road is uphill. Because it doesn’t all depend on Inter or even on Lukaku’s will. He will, however, that today it is all in the direction of Istanbul. Romelu didn’t put his mind at ease. He wants at all costs to overturn the hierarchy that sees Dzeko as favorite for the final with City. Against Fiorentina in the Italian Cup he showed at least two plays from “old Lukaku”. Inzaghi knows it. And two weeks is long enough to hope to get a place in the sun.